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ABOMINATOR
Evil Proclaimed

Hells Headbangers (2015)
Rating: 7/10

The design of the fifth full-length opus from Australia’s Abominator is a touch predictable. It seems that many bands who dabble in destructive war-torn blackened death metal tend to opt for similar artwork and often daubed in a red logo, but hey, there’s nothing wrong with that air of familiarity if the content delivers.

Abominator have been on a hiatus since the 2006 album The Eternal Conflagration, but for me it’s great that core duo Chris Volcano (vocals / drums; ex-Destroyer 666) and Andrew Undertaker (guitar) have returned to, and I quote the press release, “reignite the hellfire”. The band members may have monikers which make them sound like American wrestlers, but the sound they create is one din not to be scoffed at.

Sure, it’s a rather predictable foray into holocaustic satanic speed, but I’m not going to argue with such a confrontational racket. As if formed from the very fires of Hell which similarly scorched all manner of other underground bands of this ilk, Evil Proclaimed comes frothing, spitting, hammering, clanking, sniping and rattling out of its lair like a rabid demon intent on severing flesh and crunching bones. Abominator – right from its moniker to its look and its sound – is not attempting any originality, but merely wants to seethe with so much war-torn anger that as each track comes hurtling past you’ll be choking on the fumes of destruction.

Clearly inspired by the murky, rust-ridden black / thrash scene of the 80s, Evil Proclaimed goes for the throat with eight barbaric noises which rumble and clank like wayward machine-gun fire. The vocals are expectedly ashen; as if Mr. Volcano is choking on lava, which in turn coats his throbbing lungs. You know what is coming and yet still you are not foolish enough to hide from the barrage.

‘Black Mass Warfare’, ‘Invoker Of The Four Winds’ et al simply deal with bestial themes and come charging at such a furious pace that once you’ve suffered a few listens, you may struggle to differentiate one track from the other. Indeed, this is the main flaw of every Abominator release, but then again I don’t think these guys are trying to sell original lumps of newly formed scrap metal. Instead, they are more than happy to supply familiar coughs, splutters and bullet-belts to whoever will listen.

Of course, within such rusty pulverisation there are some fine slower moments of evil – notably three-quarters way through the demonic belching of ‘The Brimstone Nucleus’ – but for the most part it’s the same sort of horrid black / thrash / death hybrid we’ve always known about since the 80s. Hey though, when a bomb is about to be dropped on a town the only thing you expect is that it’s going to cause death and pain, and so with Evil Proclaimed you’re just here for the whole crushing experience. Throw in the usual rancid vocal growls, mix in a dash of wailing guitar solo amidst the smog-ridden riffage and then coat such a row with one helluva percussive noise and you’ve got yourself another flaming, erupting volcano of intensity.

It’s difficult to paint such a review with any other colours than black, white, grey and red, because these are the main ingredients which make up such a burning furnace of a record. As the likes of ‘Ashes Of A Demonic Legacy’ and ‘Indomitable Master’ initially suggest a variation of pace, we’re soon once again ripped to shreds by another straightforward barrage of brash brutality.

Offering nothing more than an unhealthy dose of black / death metal carnage, bands like Abominator are no doubt the armoured woodlouse of their chosen field in that after the nuclear bomb has dropped, they’ll still be left – scurrying around through the ash telling their tales of anguish.

Neil Arnold

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